Power Rangers: Vendian
by PowerRangersVendian
Summary: Set just after the battles of the Samurai Rangers; a powerful, icy queen, arises and starts her plan for doom and destruction in none other than Angel Grove. In order to save the world, the children of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers must team up or risk losing everything. But they can't do it alone...
1. Pilot

**What seems to have been a very long time ago, ChesireGrinn and I, LilMissFerret, came up with this dysfunctional, crazed idea. We love Power Rangers, with all of the cheesy, nonsensical bits, and the sometimes dark and tragic aspects. This is all of that, an amalgamation of all of the best parts, and mixed in I hope you find the heart and the maturity that the stories can sometimes lack. So come, laugh, cry, _fight_ with us, its going to be a wild ride.**

**We'd also like to give a special thanks to our friend and Beta. Even though she has no love for the franchise, she has read through hundreds of pages of material, and continues to give us her unconditional support.  
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><p><strong>Pilot<strong>

"Ah, such lovely climate here."

The man stretched his hands over his head, sighing dreamily as he closed his baby blue eyes. It was a nice day, warm with a steady, cooling breeze, keeping everything the perfect temperature.

His companions didn't share his enthusiasm.

"So we traveled for two years just to settle where we started?" The first woman asked, throwing a box at his feet. She had dark, cropped hair, and she braced a hand on her hip, thoroughly unimpressed. He spun, grinning ear-to-ear, "But this is where it started! It's poetic, don't you think?"

"And it wasn't a total loss," Her friend said, pulling her chocolate hair over her shoulder. "We got to travel the world, and we got some priceless training."

"We are not unloading your U-Haul, either," The first continued, mostly ignoring her friend. "You've got enough stuff to outfit the Army. It'd take all night."

"But you're my favorite ladies!" He crooned, kneeling to kiss the second's knuckles. She rolled her eyes, but didn't move as he blathered on, "Analise, my love, the angel of my conscience! You keep me on the straight and narrow, make my life worth living."

"And Dinah, my strength, my warrior queen," He declared, only to have the woman promptly place a foot on his wrist, pinning it, and his upper body, to the deck. She eyed him smugly, "We. Are not. Unloading. The truck."

He pouted pitifully at Analise, who smiled back sweetly with a giggle, "You heard her."

"So mean," He frowned, and Dinah released his wrist, "Antonius Demetrius Shaw, don't you even."

"Oooh, full name," Analise snickered, standing to follow her friend, wiggling her fingers at Shaw, "Have fun with your truck."

**~Ͻ Ϲ~**

"They're nice buildings," Analise commented, snarling her nose up a moment later as she drug her finger through a thick film of dust on the mantel piece, "though they could use a deep clean and a coat of paint."

"Who knows how long they've been here, sitting empty," Dinah said, looking out the window.

The property was a good six acres, with a large house at the center and a house at each of the four corners. The main house had a massive basement, while the main floor had a huge living room and fully-outfitted, modern kitchen, along with a couple bathrooms. The second floor had four different rooms that would soon be fitted for training, and the upper most floor would be Shaw's extravagant bedroom.

Each of the smaller houses had a bathroom, two bedrooms, a living room and kitchen. While the big house had been basically outfitted with furniture, the smaller buildings contained only the necessities.

After flipping the light on and off, and testing the tap in the kitchen as well, Dinah made a noise of interest, "Electricity and water works. There's that."

"There is that," Analise murmured, poking her head in a bedroom. They were empty but roomy, with a decent closet and plain white walls. She huffed, "We're gonna have to go get paint. These places need some color."

Dinah appeared in the other side of the doorway, snarling her nose, "Uh, definitely. So bland."

"But they are nice little houses," The brunette said, both of the heading to investigate the bathroom. No sooner than Analise turned on the light did Dinah groaned dramatically, "Claw-foot tub. Yes."

Analise rolled her eyes in amusement, heading back to the living room as her friend followed. They took a seat on the wrap-around porch, looking out over the rest of the grounds; the grass was in need of being mowed, but it was peaceful, the tall stalks swaying in the slow wind.

"This is going to be a god-awful mess, isn't it?" Dinah sighed tiredly, swiping a hand over her face. Analise shrugged, chuckling, "Probably, but at least it'll be interesting."

They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the weather. As the sun began to slip lower in the sky, Analise stood, "Let's go get some dinner. I'm sure come tomorrow, we'll be so busy we won't know what to do."

"What joy," Dinah deadpanned, and they headed off towards Ana's car.

**~Ͻ Ϲ~**

Sleeping in a nest of random pillows, blankets, and cushions was easier than splitting up to go to their own houses, and that's where they were when Shaw entered, whistling a jaunty tune.

"Up an at 'em, lovely ladies," Shaw sang, and was answered by an incoherent mumble and an irritated groan. He sighed dramatically, dropping into a chair that he'd dragged from his truck the night before, "Come on now, girls, get up. Things to do."

"Go awaaaaay," Analise groaned, and Shaw wasn't quick enough to avoid the sock Dinah lobbed at his head. It bounced off his forehead, and he frowned, "Very mature."

"We just got here," Analise whined pitifully, popping up from the blankets, her hair knotted and tangled and frizzy. "Can't we have a day or two to rest?"

"Evil waits on no one," Shaw replied primly, sipping on his fancy coffee. Dinah growled, and though he couldn't determine where her form was in the mass of blankets, he could very plainly hear her grumbling, "You pretentious, pompous ass. I am not getting up before noon."

"But there are things to do!" Shaw shouted dramatically, flailing a bit. Suddenly, he placed his coffee down. Analise watched with tired confusion as he stalked closer, and bent at the waist, getting a secure grip on the blanket. He yanked it, revealing Dinah, who then promptly rolled to her back, bracing her hands on the ground above her shoulders, and launched herself to her feet.

Shaw stumbled back with a small noise of surprise, and possibly fear, as Dinah stalked toward him, eyes narrowed. She grabbed the blanket, tossing it over his head, and swiped his feet from under him. He fell back gracelessly into the chair, and she quickly rounded it, tying the ends of the blanket to the chair, trapping him.

"Since we were so rudely awoken..." Dinah declared, easily slipping his wallet from his back pocket, and withdrew a credit card. She held it between two fingers, waving it under his nose with a grin, "I do believe I'd like to go shopping, and I can assure you, I will spend so much your wallet will cry."

Tears gathered in his eyes, and Dinah smirked, "Now don't you wish you'd just left me in Tibet?"

"I'm starting to," he whined, and Analise smothered a laugh behind her hand, shaking her head as she followed her friend from the room.

**o.O.o**

Analise scowled at the shelves of the local grocery store. "Why can't they get the right kind of juice?"

Rolling her eyes, Dinah pushed the shopping cart around her friend, "Just get another brand. There's only three different ones to choose from."

The other girl pouted, "But I only like Juicy Juice. And only like three flavors of that."

"You're pathetic." The taller woman proceeded on, heading for the shelf packed with snack cakes and cookies. "But of course they don't have my animal crackers, either."

Analise laughed, dumping her juice choice into the basket, and grabbing a few snacks as well. "Should we be responsible and get some actual food, too? Everything in here so far is junk."

"Ramen noodles aren't junk food," Dinah reminded her, gesturing to the bright colored bag.

"Fine," she sighed, still grinning. "How about some adult food, then."

The two women picked their way through the aisles, dodging a giant stack of dog food and several of Angel Grove's older citizens in the process. Dinah was true to her word; their cart filled up quite quickly, and with every turn they were adding to it.

Time flew by them as they debated what kinds of things they needed, and made sure they had all of the basics on top of everything else. "Did we miss the cereal somewhere?" Ana asked, scanning the store. "I wanted to get some oatmeal…"

"It was back that way, I think," Dinah told her, nodding in the right direction. "It was with all of the cleaning supplies."

Without question, Analise headed to the left, squinting at the signs hanging above the aisles. Then a tiny child ran straight into her, quickly darting behind her and peeking out from around her legs.

The little boy, no older than six, giggled mischievously, obviously thinking he had found a perfect hiding place. Another boy came chasing down the same aisle soon after, looking around in every direction. The two could have been twins, except that the second boy was a few years older. They had the same dark eyes and matching striped hair, although in varying shades of blond.

"Auri!" the older boy called out. "I'm going to get you!"

Analise wasn't quite sure what to do with some stranger's child plastered to her. She shot a look at Dinah, but her friend merely shrugged, amusement lighting up her eyes as she stood, several feet away, watching the chaos ensue.

Just as she was about to blow the boy's cover, a very frantic looking woman came charging in their direction, a very pretty girl at her side. "Aristos!" she chided, grabbing the older boy by the hand and pulling him to her side. "What have I told you about running off without me? And where is your brother?"

The older boy lowered his head, his lighter hair blending in with the perfect streaks running through the long strands. "We were just playing hide-and-seek, Mommy," he answered her quietly.

Behind Analise, the younger boy was trying to make himself smaller, his small hands fisted in the material of her jeans.

Their mother stood suddenly, as if she had just realized she was being watched. She tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, looking far wearier than she should. "Angeni, take your brother and go get the cart, okay?" she told the girl.

Angeni nodded, taking her brother's hand and pulling him towards the way they had come. Her own streaked hair swayed back and forth as she scurried away from them.

The woman approached them then. "Have you seen a little boy?" she asked. "He's five, about this tall. He ran off a few minutes ago and I don't know where he went..."

Quick to cut her off before she was overcome with panic, Analise interrupted, "Actually, he kinda found us." She pointed to her little tag along, who peered up at the two of them, wearing what must have been his best puppy-dog face.

It certainly softened her heart, but his mother must have been used to it by this point. She gently pulled the boy to her, "Aurelius, don't you ever do that again. Do you hear me?"

The boy nodded, wrapping his arms around her. "Sorry, Mommy."

The woman hugged him back before hoisting him up in the air and shifting him to her hip, bunching up her pale yellow shirt. "It's okay, baby," she told him, kissing his forehead lightly. "I'm so sorry about that. Boys. My goodness they get into everything. I took my eyes off of them for three seconds and they were gone!"

Analise laughed, "It's no problem. We're happy to help."

The shopping cart squeaked as Dinah finally joined her, greeting the woman as she did so. "It was fun to watch, at least."

The older woman smiled, "Are you girls new in town?"

"Kind of," Analise started just as Dinah said, "Just moved back."

"Well, I'm Ashley Hammond. If you need anything I'm usually about. When I'm not wrangling these little monsters, of course," she told them, ticking the boy's leg and making him giggle.

"Dinah Wilde and Analise Rivers," Dinah introduced for them.

With a sharp squeak, and a squeal, Ashley's other two children made their reappearance, almost losing their shopping cart as they made too sharp of a turn. "And that's my signal to leave. Nice to meet you two."

They returned the sentiment, watching as the little family was directed towards the registers at the front. "Was that-" Analise whispered quietly to her friend, quickly cut off by her, "That was the yellow Space Ranger!"

"Oh my gosh. This place is just crawling with them, isn't it?" she laughed, hardly believing what had just happened.

"Tony is going to be so jealous," Dinah replied smugly. "Now go get your oatmeal so we can get the hell out of here."

Without further delay, Ana darted off to finish her shopping, unable to keep an excited grin off her face. Maybe coming back here hadn't been such a terrible idea after all.


	2. Episode I Analise

**Episode I**

**Analise**

The first day she ventured out on her own was something else. When Shaw had taken them for their journey around the world she had left most of her belongings here, at her parents' house. Now, two years later, she stood on her front door step, reliving some of the most memorable times in her childhood.

This was the house she'd grown up in, from the time she was a tiny baby, until the moment she left it all to chase a dream that she really couldn't tell anyone about. Sure, they'd concocted a story to share with the world, but it had cut deeply into the family ties she had always cherished.

In the past two years she had missed her younger brother's graduation, birthdays, and Christmases. She had left her mother all alone with just the boys, without her dad there to help out. It had been hard for her, and she couldn't imagine what her mother was going to say when she finally opened the door.

They still talked, of course, but it was always tense and short-lived. Analise twirled a finger through her thick hair, steeling herself for the worst as she knocked on the faded door.

She knocked three times then took a small step back to wait, chewing on her bottom lip and examining the warped boards of the porch. After five breaths she was about to give up, when at last the latched clicked and the door swung inwards.

"Hello?" her mother started, before she even had the door open, but once it was, her dark eyes, so like her own, widened in shock. "Ana!" she exclaimed, pulling her into a hug before she could even return the pleasantries. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? No, no, never mind, let me have a look at you."

"Hi, Mom," she returned quietly, afraid to break the spell.

The woman held her out, but never let go of her arms, taking her in for several heartbeats before saying anything else. "You look good, sweetheart. You've lost a lot of weight too, haven't you?" She just kept smiling, and for that, Analise was eternally grateful, feeling herself about to tear up.

"I'm so sorry, Mom. I never, never meant to be away so long... It just… I don't even know what to say," she rambled wildly, and covering her face with her hands.

"Shh," she chided, tugging on her elbow in an effort to get her to follow her inside. "There's time for that later, right now you're home. Come on, sit. Tell me about your trip."

The younger woman nodded weakly, following like an obedient puppy. They walked straight into the living room which, thank God, still looked the same as it had on the day she'd left. Analise took her favorite seat, kicking off her flip-flops and tucking her feet underneath her as she sat on the couch, breathing in the sweet smell of home.

Then she let it all go, telling her about all of the places they had visited, from China and Japan to Europe and South America. There didn't seem to be a place they hadn't been, building their knowledge and making it ever nearer to Tony's goal, to their goal. But she couldn't tell her everything, and edited her story to fit what she had always said.

They talked and talked, filling in the other on the big moments over the past two and a half years.

When it came time to say goodbye, Analise had to pull herself away. Her mother simply couldn't understand why she wanted to stay at some strange place after being away so long. She understood that, she did, but it had been so long that she had made a new home, strange and broken though it may be, and she belonged there with them.

She paused on the walkway, turning back to study the place, to devote every inch of it to memory. Then she stepped away, leaving behind that life for good. She was a new person now, all grown up, and she had her mission to complete.

Ana stopped only once more, abandoning the sidewalk, and the bus that had brought her back here, for her old, worn out car. The little thing was far from impressive, rusting around the back left tire, and wobbly around the front where the axle was getting loose. In the time she'd been gone it had sat in the garage, barely touched, and the disuse had started to take its toll.

The boxy car roared to life with a twist of the key, but when it settled she was left with a deep whiny noise. Worried that the hunk of scrap metal wouldn't make it the twenty minutes between one house and the next, Analise eased the car out of the drive and onto the road, muttering softly to it.

Whatever she did must have worked, because, despite the fact that the clatter was persistent, she made it home safe and in one piece. Although she feared making it back out wouldn't be quite so easy.

**o.O.o**

Analise groaned, clutching the receipt in her hand._ Four hundred dollars_, she thought, wondering just how screwed she was. She'd not been born rich, and after spending all of her adult life chasing after a crazy person all over the world, she had blown through what little savings she did have. Not that Shaw hadn't been very generous. He had taken them both in, kept them fed and clothed, while he showed them the world.

It had been a magical experience, one that neither her nor Dinah would change for the world, she was sure, but she felt simply dreadful about this.

Shaw had bought them the house, for their base of operations, true, but also for their own living arrangements. He had paid for the minor renovations they had been doing, the food in their refrigerators, and now the furniture and the repairs to her car.

Just today she'd picked out enough stuff to make her tiny house more livable, picked her car up from the shop, and now she was going to do something she was going to regret in the morning.

Analise left the garage and headed back towards the main road, only to get stopped by a changing traffic light. She huffed, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, while she examined the shops across the street. Angel Grove had a bit of everything, as well as the gigantic mall just down the street, but she had always preferred the historical part of the city.

Here the buildings dated back at least a century, and sometimes more than that. The little shops were packed with everything from antiques to gourmet candy. She had always been particularly fond of the homemade ice cream they served around the corner, idly wondering if that place was still open when the light finally changed back to green.

She only had three lights to go before she was home free, and somehow managed to get stuck at two of them. The universe seemed to really be harping on her today, but, then again, if she hadn't been stopped at that last light she might never have noticed her new favorite spot in town.

The tiny store was loud, but most pet shops were. The brick building had been squeezed in between two much larger shops, out of the way and unimposing. From wall to wall there was nothing but aquariums and terrariums, some with various creatures crawling about inside, some just waiting to be purchased.

She had really just came in to look, honestly, to ease away some of the stress she had been under. But she hadn't really counted on the huge display of ferrets. Cute, cuddly, baby ferrets. She had a weak spot for most things small and furry, and ferrets had a special place in her heart.

The young woman leaned over the glass edge, stretching her short frame so that she could reach some of the sleeping bundles. How those three managed to sleep while a half a dozen others chased about was beyond her. She quickly picked a favorite of the bunch, a small silvery colored one that kept tackling the others, one after the other.

Analise reached for it, only to have the ornery thing dash in the other direction, hiking up its back and bouncing from side to side. "You're too little to be scary," she laughed quietly to the baby, stretching as far as she could, one leg up in the air and her other foot up on her toes. She was almost toppling over, but at last she was able to right herself, the squirming creature grasped securely in one hand.

The little one fought for several more seconds, digging in its sharp little claws and wriggling from side to side. Unfazed, she just kept talking to it, using her best cooing baby talk, all the while grinning like an idiot. Eventually the tiny ferret calmed down enough to stare at her with its beady black eyes.

Analise stroked the fur on its forehead, just above the dark mask covering its eyes. The ferret shut its eyes, leaning its head back into the action, clearly enjoying the attention. She really shouldn't have been doing this, however; it was long past the time she should have left and headed back home.

She'd bought quite a bit of stuff, although she'd been careful not to spend so much of Shaw's money that she would never be able to pay it back to him. Not that he would be missing the money she had spent anytime soon, it just made her feel bad. Buying furniture and dishes for her new place was one thing, contemplating spending three hundred dollars of someone else's money for a new pet was entirely different.

Holding her prize hostage, Analise stared around the small room, wondering just what it was she was supposed to do next. She hadn't thought this far ahead, hell until a few minutes ago she hadn't even been thinking about getting a pet, but the last thing she wanted to do was let this one loose.

She must have looked a sight, standing in the middle of the room, because after a few minutes of that a happy girl done all up in pink bounced her way over. The slight blond smiled, lighting up her bright blue eyes.

"Hello," she greeted. "Do you need help?"

Analise looked to the ferret and then back at the girl before sighing. "Actually, yes. I think I do. Can you go get one of the workers for me? I don't think it's a good idea to take this ferret away from the pen."

"Sure thing," she replied, flipping her long hair over her shoulder as she scanned the room for a likely suspect. "Be right back."

Analise watched as the girl skipped her way to the front counter, only to turn back around a few moments later clutching a cardboard pet carrier. "Here you go," she chirped as she returned. "He said to just put it in here and bring it up front."

Analise smiled, carefully placing the animal inside the box and then sealing it up. "Thank you so much. I'm Analise, by the way."

"I'm Ellie, Ellie DeSantos. And it's no problem. You looked like you needed some help." Ellie started to continue, but was quickly cut off by another voice.

"Ellie! Where are you?" called a pretty brunette woman, one hand holding onto another girl, and the other clutching a long cane.

"Coming, Mom!" the girl called back. "Well, I've got to go. Good luck with your new pet!" And then she was gone, bouncing off in the other direction.

Fifteen minutes later she was clutching a large wire cage packed with odds and ends under one arm and the cardboard pet box clamped tightly in her opposite hand, grinning from ear to ear. Someone was going to kill her, she knew, but that didn't seem to be enough to stop her.

The ferret, a little girl the man at the register had informed her, scattered back and forth across the box, attempting with great gusto to break loose of her confinement. To an outsider it probably looked like she was shaking the poor thing to death, when in reality it was a struggle just to keep from dropping her.

At long last they reached the parking lot, and she cursed herself for parking so far away from the front door. It was going to be a long trip home she feared, she was just hoping that her little hellion didn't gnaw her way through the box and end up somewhere she shouldn't.

She popped open the rear door, carefully setting the box on the back seat, before packing away the other things she had bought. Analise snatched up her package again, moving the crazy creature to the front passenger seat before buckling herself in, wondering just how in the hell she was going to explain her way out of this one.

**o.O.o**

If anything had to go right today, she was glad it was this. When Ana pulled back into the main drive of their new headquarters she was blessedly alone. She pulled her old, but remarkably better sounding, car as close to her own house as she could, frowning at the ugly peeling exterior. The moment she found the time she was going to scrape all of the mess off and find herself a brush.

But now wasn't really time for that. With no idea when the remainder of her household was going to appear, Analise made quick work moving her new things into the tiny house.

The decoration was sparse, aside from the things she'd bought today and the little she had carried with her on their trips, she had only brought in her little bit of furniture from her mother's house. Her bedroom was currently the most appealing room of the place, and left her living room a sad place to walk into. Hopefully before too long she would have some actual furniture, but at the moment it was just a big open room.

Ana danced across the space, setting down her bags and boxes. Her new towels would have to be washed, as would the dishes and cookware once she'd unboxed them, and so she sat them on her empty kitchen counters for the moment and went to retrieve the real prize.

She still felt terrible about the whole situation, which was the whole reason behind her scurrying back and forth between her car and the house, like a frightened mouse. The ferret had settled down, at least for now, and so it, too, joined the rest of her purchases as she fixed up the cage for her new little friend.

The sweet smell of cedar filled the air as she broke into the bag of bedding, spilling tiny chips of wood onto the thin carpet. Analise fussed with the arrangement, plopped down on the floor, stringing up the hanging bed and filling up the bulky water bottle.

At long last she went after the carrier, and eased the top open. The little ferret was awake, curled in the corner and looking at her hatefully. Hoping she was reading too much into its demeanor, Ana reached for the creature, only to have her rather pointy teeth sunk deep into the flesh of her hand.

"Dammit!" she cursed, yanking away from the little beast. She examined her hand, hissing when the tiny holes started bleeding.

Her whole hand was throbbing as she tried to maneuver so that she didn't lose her new pet. The ferret, seeing this as a great chance to escape, once more resumed her heated attempt at escape, thrashing wildly one second and trying to climb out of the box the next.

With her hand stuck firmly in her mouth, and the box wedged between her feet, she released the handles and let the box reopen. The evil little critter darted away from her, but after a near miss, Analise managed to snag her around the waist and hoisted her in the air.

The ferret flailed for a few moments while she worked to get the cage door open, very unhappy with her predicament. At long last she got her in, somehow managing not to get bitten once more, only to have her silence interrupted by the tell-tale crunch of gravel.

"Uh oh," she whispered to herself, feeling like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She was going to be in such trouble.


	3. Episode II Dinah

**Episode II**

**Dinah**

She looked around at her humble abode, wondering where to begin. They'd decided to tackle their own homes first before even thinking about the big house and all its many and spacious rooms. It was a daunting task, and no one was quite ready for it just yet.

So, with Shaw tucked away in his lab, that she had playfully deemed "The Batcave," and Analise out in town shopping, she decided to survey the damage at her own place before making any decisions.

Thankfully, the atrocious wallpaper was already peeling, so it wouldn't be too hard to get down. There was also the bonus of the walls underneath, which were real wood. With a bit of wood polish and elbow grease, they'd be good as new.

She turned, looking at the floor with a heavy sigh. The linoleum was peeling as well, and completely missing in some spots. The floor underneath wasn't rotted, though, so that was something.

The counters in the kitchen were scratched and covered in thick grime, but she could fix that fairly easily, much like the floor and walls. It would be time-consuming, but not very difficult or expensive.

The light fixtures were another story. The plastic one above the sink was melted, most likely due to electrical failure, and the one in the living room was shattered, shards of glass clinging valiantly to the edge of the light. The overhead one in the kitchen was by far the worst, since there was nothing but a gouge in the ceiling with wire hanging out.

A thick layer of dust rested over everything, but she wasn't concerned, since she'd just decided that project number one was knocking out the partial wall between the kitchen and the living room to make them open to one another. No point in cleaning up dust when there'd be drywall dust everywhere again right after.

The bathroom was in good shape. It needed a fresh coat of paint and the fixtures needed polishing, but that was all superficial. The bedroom was fine too, it's only problem being how painfully bland it was.

She headed back to the living room, passing to look out the windows. They were all partially rotted and warped, the wood barely hanging onto the glass and the house itself, but she figured that with all the money she'd save on the walls and floors doing them herself, she could afford some big bay windows for the front, and possibly her room too.

She leaned back against the bare wall, sliding to the floor with a sigh. She leaned her head back, closing her eyes as she tried to clear her mind. Only faintly registering the creak of a door echoing through the empty house, she didn't open her eyes until she felt fur brush against her leg.

She looked down at the cat, who stared back with orange eyes, the left with a partial section of green. Giving the feline a warm, loving smile, she reached down to stroke over the cat's head, scratching behind her ear as she whispered, "Home sweet home, huh, babe?"

The cat only gave a soft meow, climbing atop her human's lap, and then further to her chest, resting her head under Dinah's chin. The young woman snuggled her close, feeling at ease for the first time in months.

~Ͻ Ϲ~

Paint was easily found, and consisted mostly of a couple different shades of a beautiful grayish-blue and a dark blue-black to use for accents. The tools to take down the wallpaper and tear up the linoleum were easily found as well, and really all she needed now was a paint pan for the rollers, which the paint store had been out of.

Of course.

She watched the crowds, sliding off to the side to get out of everyone's way as she tried to find the hardware store with a small map meant for tourists. It wasn't going well; she couldn't tell up from down on the crumpled piece of paper, and she didn't even know if she was on the right street.

"Need some help?" She looked over, finding a teenage girl smiling at her. The girl was her height, with deep chocolate hair done with various braids-one snaked over her left shoulder, while another, smaller one hung by the opposite ear, and a final, large one hung down her back-and her gray eyes were striking against the deep olive tone of her skin.

Dinah laughed awkwardly, "Uh, yeah, definitely. I'm trying to find the hardware store."

"Oh, no problem," She grinned, stepping closer to Dinah to point it out on her map. "You just hang a left up here, and then another left at the second one. It's the first door. But there's another one, on the other side of town. You just go-"

The girl shoved her suddenly, just in time to keep her from being run over by two young roller skaters. One wore yellow, the color contested sharply against the dark curls on his head and his darker skin. The other had short, dark, medium brown hair and dark brown eyes, clothed in a red muscle shirt.

The girl spun, shouting at the pair angrily, "You morons!"

The boy in yellow grinned shamelessly, while the one in red laughed, "Oh, come on, Alex. Live a little!"

"You almost ran us over, Logan!" The girl snarled, waving a finger at the other boy, "And you aren't any better, Ian!"

The one in yellow snapped his jaw shut, silencing himself, and the one in red laughed dramatically, "See you on the flipside, Alex!"

They vanished around the corner, leaving Alex fuming.

Dinah smiled, "Go get 'em."

The girl looked back at her, and Dinah smirked knowingly, "I truly appreciate all the help, really, but I think I can handle it from here. Besides, I think those two need to be put in their place."

Alex cocked her head in agreement, offering a hand, "I'm Alex, as you heard. But I didn't catch your name."

"Dinah," She answered, shaking her hand.

"Thanks again."

"Nice to meet you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go kill those two."

"Have fun. Don't get caught."

~Ͻ Ϲ~

The hardware store was like most family-run ones: impossibly cluttered and completely unorganized. After thirty minutes of fruitless searching, Dinah finally found the tray, on the top shelf, under a bike helmet and stacked haphazardly atop an odd, flat light cover.

She stretched up on her tip toes, and even with her long arm stretched as far as she possibly could, she didn't come close to reaching the item on her search.

She huffed, planting her hands on her hips as she frowned; it was a shame that five-foot-nine was too short to reach anything. As she stood there, trying to figure out how to get the paint tray down without giving herself a concussion or knocking down half the shelves in the store, a lean hand entered her line of sight, knocking the helmet to the side and pulling the paint tray down.

She looked to the hand's owner, who smiled, offering the paint tray to her, "You looked like you could use a hand."

"Thank you," She blurted, taking the tray. He was just taller than herself, with short, raven hair and friendly, liquid onyx eyes. He appeared to have at least some sort of partial Asian ancestry.

"This place is a wreck, so you're lucky you found what you were looking for," he chuckled, motioning down the aisle. "I've been looking for a kitchen sink fixture for twenty minutes now."

"Need a hand?" Dinah volunteered with a small smile, shrugging in response to his surprised look, "Least I could do."

"Sure, I won't turn down the help," he grinned, offering a hand.

She gave a friendly smile, shaking his hand, "Dinah."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Dinah," he smiled, "I'm Adam."

She nodded, and turned to follow him down the aisle. They had just emerged into the center aisle of the cluttered store, when a child called out, "Daddy!"

Adam stopped, turning in the direction of the sound, obviously well practiced in doing so. The two boys that tottered around the corner were obviously twins, one's hair in dark, shoulder length curls, while the other's was cut short, much like the man at her side. He rushed forward, "Sam, Luca! Where's your brother?"

Another boy blew around the corner, older than the twins but very, very similar looking, his hair in a ponytail. Adam held his hand out, "Aiden!"

He came to his father's side just as a teen walked quickly around the corner, a little girl in his arms. If the trio of boys looked like Adam, the teen might as well have been his clone. The little girl looked like them as well, though she had a few finer features, like her nose and jaw, that had probably come from her mother.

"Jaime," Adam said, and the boy panted, "I lost Nate."

"Jesus," Adam muttered, rolling his eyes. Dinah stifled a laugh; judging by that look, this was a regular occurrence. The man held his hands out, "Give me Lacey. I'll get these guys in the car, you find that little hellion."

Jaime nodded, passing his little sister over before darting off in searched of the presumed-final child. Adam turned to her, smiling stiffly, "Well, I hate to cut it short, but I think this bunch has been out in public enough today. But it was nice to meet you. And thanks for the help...or the attempt, anyway."

"No problem," Dinah smiled. "Nice to meet you, too. And good luck."

He laughed loudly, "I'll probably need it."

~Ͻ Ϲ~

Dinah entered the big house, dropping the bags laden with Chinese takeout on the table, a dumbfounded look on her face. Analise looked to her, perched at the kitchen bar, and observed the drawn brows and confused, thoughtful look for a moment before asking, voice heavy with dread, "What happened?"

"I'm pretty sure I met a former Ranger," Dinah said slowly, and Analise's jaw dropped, "No friggin' way!"

She nodded slowly, "Adam? Park, I think. I mean he had six kids-well, five that I saw, they lost one-and they were all in black. And the baby had a mammoth on her onesie. I don't think that's a coincidence."

"Wow."

"Yeah."


	4. Episode III Cain

**Episode III**

**Cain**

Analise sat out in her car, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her chocolate eyes roamed over her features, as bland and everyday as she always thought they were. The young woman took a deep breath, straightened a few flyaway hairs, and finally emerged from her beat up little car.

She couldn't believe she had really been talked into this. She wasn't good with people, especially not new ones. She just froze up and got all nervous. Shaw had kind of demanded though, and it wasn't like she was the only one suffering.

She spared a thought for her friend, hundreds of miles away in Silver Hills. Shaking that thought loose, Analise pressed forward, trying to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and not on her racing heart. Halfway to the door she was cursing her shoes when a large piece of gravel almost did her in.

The burst of cool air was refreshing as the automatic doors sprang to life, revealing the pleasant, albeit sparse, reception area. A perky blonde, no older than herself, looked up from her fingernails before greeting her with a smile.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" she asked cheerfully, somehow managing to show off even more of her pearly whites.

"Um," she returned, unsure where she should begin. "I was hoping I could speak with someone. I think he's the leading aeronautics engineer. Cain Mirinoi?"

The girl's bright smile dimmed a little at that, and her blue eyes lost some of their sparkle. "Do you have an appointment?" she asked. Her voice had certainly lost some of its cheer.

Perplexed, and a bit curious, Analise pressed on, "My employer, Tony Shaw, sent me. Perhaps you've heard of him? He owns a percentage of NASADA, I believe."

"Well," she said, "I can't let you in without an appointment. It's against government policy. Besides, Cain despises visitors in general, appointment or no."

Analise quirked an eyebrow. She was growing tired of this girl's tone. The more she carried on the less professional she sounded, and the more she seemed like a scorned love interest, not that it mattered to her much either way.

She was about to turn back, call Shaw and demand that he find her a way in or else she was calling it quits, when a familiar face entered the room. Although they had only met briefly in the past, you couldn't just forget a face like that. He belonged on a magazine cover, not in some unknown science lab.

"Dr. Stewart!" she called, trying to get his attention, bursting into a grin when his blue eyes caught her own much darker ones.

"Ana?" he questioned, recognition lighting up his face.

They'd only met once before, and she hadn't been sure he would remember her at all. Analise breathed a sigh of relief, "Hello Justin." Clicking her heels across the tile floor, she closed the distance between them, leaving the receptionist wide-eyed. "I didn't know you were working here now."

"Mhm," he hummed. "I've been working on growth and development in zero gravity. Here's hoping the new colony will be launching in the next decade."

"Impressive," Analise returned, getting flashbacks of the first time they'd met. He had succeeded in wooing her with his technobabble then, but she didn't want to get into that again, not now at least. "So you would know the engineer in charge then? Cain?"

Justin nodded, shooting a glance back to the way he'd come. "Sure, he designed the colony. Well, he's designed most of the spacecraft over the last few years, really. Why?"

She chewed on her lip, _why did everyone have to be so curious?_ "I need to speak to him about a job opportunity. We could use his expertise," she answered, shrugging it off as no big deal.

He eyed her strangely, as if he suspected that there was more to it than that, but he didn't question her further. "I can show you the way if you like. I just needed a few notes, then I was headed back that way."

"I'd appreciate that. I don't mean to be a bother, though..."

"It's not a problem," he assured her with a smile. "Right this way."

**o.O.o**

Cain was busy toying with the schematics of one of NASADA's many satellites. Just today the organization had received twelve calls from different sources complaining of disruptions. Everything from cell phone towers to the Hubble telescope was having trouble today.

At first, they had thought that perhaps a solar storm had been causing the problems, but so far none of the readings from the sun had come up odd. NASADA had every one of their outposts looking for the cause, and after twelve hours they were still no farther than when they had started.

Truth be told he was beginning to think the disturbance was terrestrial, and very likely supernatural. That was not an easy assumption to prove, however, and his higher ups were still a little skeptical when it came to things like magic.

He was close to a breakthrough, he could feel it, but between a pounding headache and the lack of sleep, Cain was starting to lose focus. He fought the feeling for a few seconds more, but it was no use. He leaned back in his office chair, shutting out the bright fluorescents and momentarily drifting off.

With his extra sensitive senses hindered by his dozing, Cain didn't register the intruders until they were opening his office door. Startled, and out of sorts, Cain jumped to his feet in a flash of speed. One second he was sitting near his computer, and in the next he was ready for a fight.

It took several more seconds, however, before he registered that the two people standing in the doorway weren't likely to be a true threat. "What are you doing Stewart? Don't you know how to knock?" he growled, barely noticing the short girl standing by his side.

"Sorry, Cain. I thought... well, never mind that, I was just showing Miss Rivers here the way to your office," he finished, gesturing to the girl at his side.

Cain paused to consider her. She wasn't anything special, really, but the gleam in her eye, some odd mixture of fear and excitement he'd wager, was intriguing. He cocked his head, watching the way she fidgeted under his gaze. "I'll take it from here, then," he decided rather suddenly, shooing the shocked doctor with a wave of his hand. Dr. Stewart started to protest, but the girl jumped in, giving him a weak smile.

"Thank you for your help, Justin. I think I can handle it from here," she told him, sounding far more sure than she looked. He stuttered a few more seconds, before finally turning around and leaving them alone.

The girl stepped deeper into the room, muttering some nonsense about the decor, and he watched as her brave shell all but disappeared. Cain snapped the door closed, just a little harder than necessary, enjoying the way the girl jumped before shooting him a worried glance.

"So," he started, returning to his chair, "do you have a first name?"

"Analise," she answered proudly. "Analise Rivers. But that's not really important. I came on urgent business."

"Did Shaw send you?" he asked. The man in question was out of his mind, obviously. He had previously asked for his help locating and securing a rather precious piece of government property. Cain didn't even wait for an answer, as her surprise was clearly written all over her face. "I'm not interested in his little games, as I've already informed him. Repeatedly."

The girl shrugged, "He says that you're the best in your field, and that if his plan ever takes off, he'll need your help to actually keep it afloat."

Cain suspected she was paraphrasing quite a bit with that statement, but even if it had been verbatim, he wasn't about to pick up his pathetically small number of belongings and move for the whims of an eccentric billionaire. He didn't particularly care for Stone Canyon, or his lonely apartment, but that didn't mean that he had any interest in leaving. If it hadn't been for his dog, he might just stay at the office for the rest of eternity. "I'm not interested," he repeated. "I have two shuttles to repair, a colony to build, and an entire network of satellites to debug. I simply don't have the time, much less the energy."

"Not even to help the Power Rangers?" she asked.

He snorted at that. "Have you even met any of the Power Rangers? I have personally met several; they are not that spectacular." He remembered the tales of legendary heroes that were the protectors of his home world, and how disappointed he had been in the team that had descended upon them when he was a child.

Analise blinked up at him, not understanding his tone. He could see the innocence, the child-like wonder that shone in her irises, everything he had lost so long ago. He wondered how she could have come so far, and yet still held onto that. "The Power Rangers have done so much for this world, for yours too, I believe," she told him, matter-of-factly, and she believed it.

"Why is Shaw even attempting to assemble a team? Isn't it against the code of conduct to create new teams without cause?" he sneered, suddenly a little uncomfortable with the way she was watching him, and hoping to stop her.

Again, the girl just shrugged, finally turning her gaze away, "He's come across some kind of disturbance over the grid, some kind of magic down south."

Magic, he thought, casting a quick glance at one of his three monitors. Each held the detailed reports from dozens of satellites from all across the world. He'd had his suspicions... But without a proper connection to the grid, the very matrix that held things like magic and technology, even life itself, together, he couldn't test his theories properly. Shaw had to have found a way to access the grid directly, and the best way to do that was through the Alpha series.

1 through 4 had been lost eons ago, 5 and 6 were scattered across the universe, and 7's whereabouts were unknown, leaving only the final member, Alpha 8. Cain thought back to the last time he and Shaw had worked together. He had been instrumental in getting his hands on the robot, then only a pile of knotted wires and a circuit board so complex that even the world's most intelligent couldn't piece it back together. But Shaw, by some miracle, must have gotten it done.

Cain wondered just how far his research could go with that kind of resource. The possibilities were endless, really, and if all he had to do was organize and repair equipment... Well it wasn't really any different than what he was doing here.

NASADA didn't really need him, at least not physically. He was just another one of their brains, and he could be that anywhere.

"Cain?" she girl asked, sounding concerned. He shook himself out of his thoughts, wondering how long he had zoned out.

"Fine. I'll come, before that mad man tries to destroy the whole of Angel Grove." He paused, finalizing his thoughts before continuing, "But I have a few demands, and hope that Shaw will fulfill them before I arrive. He'll have 'til the end of the week, no later."

Analise stared at him then, mouth open like a fish. No sooner had he finished that thought, however, before she snapped her jaw shut and struck an aggravated pose. She cocked her hip to one side, then grasped it with one hand, all the while pointing one angry finger at him with the other. "What can you possibly want?" she huffed.

He liked this change in her, he decided, wondering how long she had been simmering under her cool outer shell. He smirked, "A plane for one. Just his private jet, really, for my personal possessions and equipment."

Analise covered her eyes, and let out a quiet noise that might have been a growl._ This job might actually not be without its benefits_, he thought. He could definitely have fun with this one, at least.

**o.O.o**

She had never been so angry in her life. Analise half stomped back down the corridor, glad that Justin wasn't here this time to talk her ear off. She'd been optimistic about this, or at least she had tried to be.

Handling his attitude wasn't really the problem, even though that was a hassle, but every time he cast those eerie, almost-purple eyes on her, she had to fight the urge to shiver. And he liked it, the creep.

"Urgh!" she huffed once she'd reached her car, tugging off her evil heels and tossing them into the passenger seat. Analise climbed behind the wheel, stretching out her cramped toes and pinching the bridge of her nose.

And the nerve of him! Honestly, he wanted a plane. A private jet to haul him the whole two hours between Stone Canyon and Angel Grove.

Analise let out another angry breath, and then went for her phone. Unsure she could really handle Shaw's excitement on top of her previous encounter, and instead opted for a quick text. That taken care of, she paused to rethink her schedule for the day.

She happened to have one of Shaw's credit cards hidden in the depths of her purse. And Stone Canyon did have one of the best shopping centers in the area. The day was still young, too, and since she had absolutely no desire to go back to the house with only Tony and Alpha for company, shopping sounded like a pretty good idea to her. Her little house was quite empty, after all.

Decided, Analise started up her car, and made her way out of the lot, oblivious to the watchful eyes above her.


	5. Episode IV Del

**Episode IV**

**Del**

"It is awfully quiet in here."

Jennifer Scotts-Collins turned from the bulletin board that detailed all the patrols, but didn't actually look up from her clipboard. Only when her visitor cleared their throat impatiently did the brunette look up. She smiled apologetically at Taylor Earhardt, whose golden hair was braided back, slicked back from her face, and who wore full Air Force fatigues.

She grinned at Jen, who mirrored the gesture for a short moment before chewing on her bottom lip, "It is quiet, isn't it?"

Taylor smirked, one brow near her hairline, "Uh, yeah. I haven't seen hide nor hair of Wes since I passed the first security checkpoint. I was getting suspicious."

"Well, the babysitter canceled, so we had the kids," Jen explained with worry, as she glanced up and down the hallway for a glimpse of her family. "Grant got fussy during a meeting so Wes took him, along with Wyatt and Sky. It was so quiet that I guess I got caught up in my work and-"

"Hey, don't worry too much," Taylor said, as she placed a reassuring hand on the Time Force Ranger's shoulder. "He's the boss. Surely someone would come get you if he was causing too much trouble, right?"

"That's true," Jen agreed, with a small measure of relief, heading deeper into the Silver Guardian Headquarters. Taylor followed, falling into step with the woman as she inquired, "What brings you here, Taylor?"

"The higher-ups needed some papers dropped off," Taylor explained, stretching her arms over her head with a soft groan. "It's been forever since I've been off base, anyway."

Jen wasn't going to touch that; it had been a couple months since Taylor and Eric's relationship had suddenly gone sour, but they still refused to talk about it.

Jen nodded, noticing the manila envelope tucked under her arm for the first time. They rounded the corner, pausing to drop off the papers with the secretary before heading on. Jen was beginning to get very worried again, when she caught sight of her infant son tucked into the crook of a trusted associate and friend's arm.

Del was a big man, taller than both Wes and Eric, and broader through the shoulders and thighs, as well. His ebony hair was short but unruly, scruff thick around his mouth and along his jaw. He smiled warmly, and then Jen saw the other two boys. She breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Sky perched carefully atop Del's shoulders and Wyatt on his other hip. She rushed to meet him, taking Grant in her arms and Del chuckled, "Good news and bad news."

"The good news had better be that my children are okay," Jen growled, passing Grant to Taylor before reaching for Wyatt, "otherwise, I am going to kill my husband."

"Oh, they are," Del smiled, speaking to Sky, "right?" The quiet boy nodded, his chin testing on Del's SG hat, and the man grinned, "We lost Wes a while ago. I took the kids, and Eric went to look for him."

Jen nodded, brushing her lips across Wyatt's forehead; she was glad it had been Eric and Del. Eric was Wes' dearest friend, and Del had been around just as long as she had. Despite a questionable childhood, Del had proven himself time and again as a more-than-capable officer and had become a close friend.

"At least you didn't leave one with Myers," Taylor sneered quietly, rocking Grant back and forth gently. "That would've been a huge mistake."

Jen squeezed the bridge of her nose as Del glanced questioningly at her. She held her hand up in the universal 'don't ask' gesture. He nodded slowly, turning carefully so as to not displace Sky as he watched Eric stalk down the hallway.

The Quantum Ranger was unusually frazzled, his hair slightly mussed and his face twisted in rage. His cap was nowhere to be found, and he wasted no time in launching into a tirade, "Of all the irresponsible things! I have turned this building upside down, and I cannot find him anywhere! He is the Commander, he has an image to uphold!"

"Can't keep your men under control, Myers?" Taylor asked with feigned disinterest, looking up sharply. His dark gaze snapped to her, but the sight of the child in his ex-girlfriend's arms was enough to kill the words on his tongue.

He was saved from any questions or jeering when an odd noise echoed distantly off the walls. They weren't the only ones that heard it, either, judging by the myriad of confused looks on others nearby. She spun about the time a very large, red blur zoomed by in the junction of a far hallway. She ground her teeth, and it appeared again.

"Dammit, Wes," Jen swore, and the other three, upon closer inspection, could see it was Wes as well, riding beyond the maximum speed on a floor waxer. He zoomed by yet again, closer this time, and only by good timing did a young woman with dark hair stop, just in time to avoid being run over.

She watched him go by, shaking her head as she continued on. Her hair was cropped short, and glinted blue in the poor halogen lighting. The helmet tucked under her arm was of similar color to her hair. The stitched black leather jacket, black pants and boots, along with the dark makeup around her eyes, made for a pretty mysterious and intimidating figure.

She paused beside Taylor, giving her a respectful nod, "Lieutenant Earhardt."

Her brows shot up in surprise, as did Eric's and Jen's when she regarded them, "Commander Myers, Assistant Commander Scotts-Collins."

It dawned on Del suddenly and he blurted, "Shaw sent you."

She rolled her eyes, irritation evident, "He was getting impatient, and because he's a spoiled, rotten brat, he demanded I come, so here I am."

It was instinct, so he stuck his hand out politely, careful not to dislodge Sky, "Major Delacroix Doyle."

"Dinah Wilde," She replied, with a firm handshake. Her name surprised him; while her first name was far more feminine than anything he had expected, he had this feeling the last name was right on the money.

Wes approached suddenly, sliding Sky from Del's shoulders to place him on his own, promptly ignoring his wife's glare, "I didn't know you'd made a decision yet."

He'd run the possibility of this happening by Eric and Wes months ago. Wes must've told Jen, who in turn must've told Taylor, because neither of the women seemed surprised.

"I hadn't, exactly..." He muttered. He wanted to, but leaving behind Silver Hills, his friends and the job he loved, his life, was rather daunting. Then again, he owed Shaw. He owed him a lot. If not for the man, he'd probably be in prison or dead right now.

"Look, I don't know what he's told you, if anything," The woman, Dinah, said suddenly. "But at best, this is a shot in the dark. No one's sure how this'll turn out, or even off it'll work at all. Personally, if you've got a good life here, don't leave. I wouldn't."

That surprised them all; Wilde card, Del thought wryly, before posing a very interesting question, "Why are you doing this?"

She gave him a wry, self-depreciating smile, "It's a long story. And not one I'm very keen on sharing. Let's just say I have nothing keeping me elsewhere. Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back, and all that. But back to the point: we don't know where this is going or if it's going at all. But regardless of Shaw, whether you owe him or he has something on you, don't do this if you don't really want to."

"I do," He said with enough conviction that he not only surprised his associates, but himself as well. "I really do. For me. Not Shaw. But you...you don't have a reason?"

He couldn't help himself; it honestly wasn't any of his business, but if he was going to work with this woman, he needed to know.

Her face grew dark, gray eyes sparking dangerously, "I've got plenty of reasons; don't doubt that. But don't assume this is a game to me, because it's not." Her face lightened considerably, and he felt the whiplash from the mood swing as she cocked her head and questioned, "So you're coming?"

He nodded wordlessly and she smirked, "Good deal." With that, she took a step back, still smirking, "I'll see you in Angel Grove then. Shaw's giving you till the end of the week to wrap everything up here. And with that, I'll be on my way. Don't wanna get stuck in the AG lunch rush."

Eric narrowed his eyes, "It's 6 in the morning. It takes at least 8 hours to get there."

Dinah quirked an eyebrow, "Maybe if you go the speed limit."

Wes snorted out a laugh, pointing at Eric and Del, "You might wanna be careful. Those two would just love to give you a ticket."

"You wanna give me a ticket?" She asked, staring Del down as she began to walk backwards down the hallway, "You're gonna have to catch me first."

Del watched her go, only faintly hearing Taylor's murmured 'Oh, I like her', and Eric's answering humble of 'You would'.

He was intrigued, far more than he should be, and despite the warning bells going of in his head.

She vanished out the door, into the bright sunlight.

~Ͻ Ϲ~

"How goes it there?" Dinah asked the person on the other line, watching from behind her sunglasses in the telephone booth as the guards came and went.

"He is a colossal prick," Analise snarled into the phone, ranting and raving. "He wants a private jet for a two hour flight!"

"How nice," Dinah said dryly, already dreading that man.

"How was yours?" Analise questioned curiously, and Dinah hummed, "He's...interesting. Kinda stiff, but I figure he'll open up eventually."

"Probably," Analise agreed, posing another question, "When are you leaving?"

Dinah leaned out of the booth, watching Myers command roughly five men to their squad cars, and in the direction of the exit to Angel Grove.

She smirked, tossing her head to the side, "Oh, right about now I figure. Eric Myers has a whole squad waiting for me to give me a ticket. Wouldn't want to disappoint them."

"Take care not to get arrested," Analise sighed fondly, "It's a long drive."

"Will do," Dinah replied airily, adding a quick 'See you soon' on the end.

"Don't wreck and die," Ana added quickly, and Dinah laughed, "Oh, come on now! I'm way better than that!"

**~Ͻ Ϲ~**

The various neon signs were the only bright thing in the otherwise dingy bar.

Del kept to himself, having claimed a table in the far back corner, a cold bottle of beer in his hand. It was too early for anyone but the heavy drinkers to be here, and he found himself in sparse company.

He was teaching designs on the condensation on the brown glass when Eric pulled out the chair besides him and sat down. He motioned to get the bartender's attention, then held up four fingers; the man nodded, and Eric turned back silently.

He was a man of few words, but Del didn't really know if there was anything to say. And if there was, he didn't know what it was.

Wes and Jen joined them soon enough, and then Taylor came in the door right after. After they were all seated and has beverages in hand, Jen grinned at him, "Are you excited?"

"I...I'm not sure I'm going..." He winced, prepared for the various looks of shock and confusion on his friend's faces. Taylor was the only one that didn't look the least bit surprised.

"But it's an honor to be chosen to mentor Rangers," Wes frowned, confused. After all, in his position, Del knew there would be no question.

It was complicated. His entire life was here in Silver Hills, and he owed these people everything, for giving him a chance to get his life straight so many years ago. He wasn't sure he was comfortable leaving just yet.

"I mean...she even told me there was a chance this would never pan out," Del sighed, conflicted. Eric narrowed his eyes, "She raced my team out of town. I'm not sure her judgement is sound."

"And we aren't going to replace you," Jen smiled kindly, giving his big hand a reassuring squeeze, "we can't replace you. Your spot is open and will stay that way until you come back. So don't worry about that."

He smiled slightly, and when Taylor leaned back in her chair, he knew he was in for it.

"Look, we can sit and tell you how its an honor, that it's fulfilling," Taylor said seriously,"but you're a grown man. You're smart, and you think things through. But when it comes down to it, you're the only one that can make this decision. It's your life. You'll have to be the one that makes the choice."

You could always depend on Taylor to give it to you straight, that was for sure. He nodded, swallowing the rest of his beer before motioning to the tender for another.

Wes leaned forward, grinning, "Sooooo?"

"One more," Del smiled, holding up a finger, "then I gotta go home and pack."


	6. Episode V Capability

**A.N. We would like to thank each and every reader that has made it this far. We have seen lovely reviews, and killer numbers so far, with many, many more to come hopefully. Our writing is still ongoing, but everyday we make some progress on the story as a whole, even when we're just talking it to death! Hope to see you all at the end. :) -LilMissFerret  
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* * *

><p><strong>Episode V<strong>

**Capability**

Analise was curled up on the front porch of the big house, chewing absentmindedly on her fingernails as she read one of her books. It was an old one, one of her favorites that she'd read a dozen or more times, with the spine falling apart and the cover hanging on by just a few threads.

The place was pleasantly quiet; Tony was tinkering away in the basement, and Dinah had disappeared to her own place a little while before, leaving her alone. That was until a sleek, silver sports car pulled into the drive, closely followed by a bumbling moving truck.

Intrigued, Ana pulled herself into a better position, yanking her sunglasses down so she could get a better view. But she was highly disappointed when the car came to a stop, and out stepped her new colleague.

Cain's spiked black hair glistened in the sunlight, and, she hated to admit it, he actually looked quite sharp in his dark jeans and silver dress shirt. With his dark glasses on it was a little hard to tell if he had spotted her yet, so she decided to play innocent, reclining back into her chair and settling for watching him from over the edge of her book.

It really was a shame that he had to be such an ass; he was quite nice to look at with his trim body and eerily beautiful eyes. She quickly lost track of what she was doing, thoroughly distracted just watching him talk to the movers and strut across the yard.

That would be a bad habit, she knew, but it was still hard to tear her eyes away, until his strutting started bringing him up the path in her direction. Embarrassed, Ana knew her cheeks had gone red, but she insisted on pretending to read.

"Are you aware that I can hear your heartbeat from across the yard?" Cain asked, as he strode up the wooden steps. He quirked one of his jet-black eyebrows, and gave her a devilish little smirk. "Do I make you nervous, Analise?"

She had to fight to hold his gaze, but there was nothing she could do to make her tongue work. She settled for a weak shake of her head, which only seemed to make him more pleased.

**o.O.o**

He had noticed her from the moment he pulled up. The unremarkable girl that had somehow caught his interest, sitting on the front porch, and eyeing him curiously from her lounge chair.

Cain stepped out of his Lamborghini, leaving his lazy mutt, Bandit, asleep in the back. His team of movers had pulled up behind him, waiting in their truck for more instructions before they, too, piled onto the lawn. He decided to humor the poor girl, pretending not to have noticed her or her very obvious staring.

He approached the truck, sparing a few moments to take in this new place. It was far more open than he expected, set back outside of town. It was also a lot greener than most of southern California, although still nothing close to the place he had once called home.

Altogether it was certainly a step up from his apartment, and would work perfectly with his new, albeit temporary, occupation. The higher ups at NASADA had not taken kindly to his sudden leave of absence, but they would be begging him back soon enough.

Unsure about which of the dwellings scattered across the property was actually his, Cain left the help and started towards the main house. Up on the porch, Analise shifted uncomfortably, and he listened as her heartbeat raced in her chest.

"Are you aware that I can hear your heartbeat from across the yard?" he asked, amused by her deep blush, wondering just what it was she had been thinking about. "Do I make you nervous, Analise?" He liked the way her name rolled off his tongue, and, once he spotted her shiver, thought that she did, too.

Her dark eyes met his, shining with a defiant edge. Despite that, she didn't seem to be able to form a coherent sentence, and simply shook her head at him.

Cain was having far too much fun at the poor girl's expense, but there was something about her he couldn't quite place, something that made her far more appealing than she had been at first glance. He also liked the fact that she wasn't about to run from him, at least anytime soon, despite what he was doing to her. Obviously she liked it; whether she would admit it or not was another story.

"Care to show me around?" he asked, breaking the prolonged silence. "I'd like to get my things put away before one of these fools break something important."

"Oh," she returned quietly, like she had only just realized why he was there at all. "Of course, yeah. Yours is that one," she said, pointing to one of the houses. "Dinah's is the one across the yard from yours, I'm on the right, and Del's is the one on your left."

"That's it? No grand tour?" he chided. "Where's your sense of hospitality?"

"There's not much to see, really. And the door should be unlocked," she hedged, trying to get him to leave, he was sure.

Cain propped himself against one of the tall posts supporting the roof. "That's no way to treat your new house mate, now is it?"

Analise huffed, an unattractive noise completed with a roll of her chocolate eyes. "You seem pretty capable to me, Cain."

"Oh, you have no idea," he laughed, suddenly righting himself and disappearing towards his new place.

**o.O.o**

He had not been expecting much, not once he had gotten a good look at the exterior of his pathetic little house, but this was far worse than he had imagined. The place was an absolute disaster, and he had certainly not been coerced into this position so he could live in a hovel.

Cain spun around, slamming the door behind him so hard that the glass panes rattled in their frames, freezing the two men that were following him. He had been told that he had a way with people, a way of making grown men three times his size panic under his gaze, much the way these two were.

"Get out of the way," he growled, stomping his way back towards the larger house in the center.

The moment he came into view Analise started laughing, first just a small giggle, and then she lost it, snickering into her hands as she tried to be quiet. Cain had no time for her silly games, taking the stairs in two great steps and quickly shortening the distance between them.

Even then, with only a foot and a half of space between them and murder burning in his blue-violet eyes, she was laughing. She couldn't even speak for lack of air.

"I don't find this amusing in the slightest," he told her, making sure to lace his words with a dangerous edge. Unfazed, Analise took one long look at him, tears filling up in her eyes, and continued on her way. "How am I expected to be here and work when my living quarters are in a state of ruin?"

"Hey!" she managed, trying to catch her breath. "I cleaned it!"

"Cleanliness is the least of my worries. There is a gigantic whole in the front wall! And the floor is ripped to shreds!" Cain barked at her, throwing up his hands.

The girl shook her head at him, "It's just a bit of drywall and tearing up the linoleum. The floors are actually in pretty good shape if you're in to the wood."

He scowled at her, "And I'm expected to put in all of this work? Just so I can do Shaw's bidding?"

"Well, you seem pretty capable to me, Cain," Ana scoffed, before finally regaining all of her composure. "We have to live here, you might as well decorate the way you want. Go pick some paint colors, it's really not that hard. You won't have to lift a finger."

She was attempting to win his game, which was something Cain refused to stand for. "You are of absolutely no use," he finished, waving off her response. He made his way to the main door, refusing to even look at her anymore. He would fix this, even if he had to go to Shaw himself.

**o.O.o**

How on earth she had ended up here was beyond her. Analise knelt in the floor, pulling the lid off of a can of paint. The paint was a pretty color at least, a pale gray, even though he was intending to paint the entire place the same color. She had attempted to reason with him, to tempt him into using some actual colors here and there, but it was no use.

Her own house was just about every color of the rainbow it seemed. She had used pink, red, blue, and green, and that was just for the walls. Cain wouldn't admit it, but he was afraid of color. It had been hard enough to get him to pick this one, let alone anything else. Still, paint colors were the least of her worries. She still wasn't sure how she had been roped into actually helping him paint the damn place.

Cain strode in a few minutes later, just as she was finishing up her prep work. He was looking especially moody today, dressed far too nicely to be painting anything.

"What are you wearing?" she asked. "You do know that the paint will get all over you by the time we're done, right?"

"Perhaps you might get covered, but I have a little more skill than that."

That she highly doubted. In fact, if she had to wager a guess, Analise assumed that he had never painted anything in his life, let alone an entire house. "We'll see about that. Come get a brush," she told him, holding out one of the paintbrushes for him to use. "You take one corner and I'll take another. Hopefully this won't take us forever."

Cain looked like he wanted to say something, but stopped short, clamping his jaw shut and moving to take the object out of her hand. She breathed a sigh of relief as he disappeared to his own side of the room, quietly working in the back ground so she could concentrate on what she was doing.

This had been her father's line of work, and she prided herself on knowing her way around a jobsite. Painting was her favorite part of the process, and it was easy for her to get lost in the motion, careful not to get paint on anything but the wall and her hands.

Sitting in the floor wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, especially on the hard wood, but Ana managed to get everything done around the baseboard before needing to stretch.

After resting her brush on top of one paint can, Analise climbed to her feet, stretching her back. She turned, knowing she was going to need the ladder to reach the ceilings, only to come face to face with a painter's nightmare.

"What are you doing!" she shouted, dancing around the obstacles as she made it to Cain's side, ripping the brush out of his hand. "You can't just paint the whole damn wall with the brush!"

Cain glared at her, "I can paint any way I please. This is my house."

Analise placed a hand on her hip, shaking the poor, paint-covered brush in his face, "You're going to see that. There will be streaks all over the place. And brush marks."

"Get back to your own work then, and leave me be."

"Whatever," she huffed, placing the brush back in his outstretched hand. "But don't count on me to fix it when your perfectionist little brain can't stand the mess you've made come tomorrow." She left him then, snagging the ladder while she was at it. Cain made a little noise of disapproval, but he didn't say anything else.

Only once she was finished with her bit did Analise return to check on him. Much to her amazement, he hadn't really done that bad. After that first initial shock, where he had painted half of the wall from floor to the very edge of his reach, Cain had actually listened to her.

From that spot on he had started truly trimming out the wall, and he had gotten both of his walls done. Of course she had given him the two walls without many details, and she had all of the windows and the main door.

Ana didn't want to call him out on his change of pace, knowing that it would only serve to cause another argument. "Hey, Cain?" she asked, drawing his attention away from his work. "I'm taking a break, 'kay? The rolling won't take very long, and then we can move on to a different room if you want."

The strange man looked back up at her, "I suppose. We have wasted most of the day on this nonsense already."

"You could have hired someone else to do this, you know. You said you wanted to do it yourself," she reminded him, suddenly reaching out and tugging on the material clinging to his shoulder. "Come on, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving."

Cain snorted, "You have no idea what it is to starve."

"Not the point," she said, letting her hand fall as he rose from the ground.

Something about his eyes changed, going cloudy and dark, and the tension in the room suddenly doubled. Feeling uneasy, Analise stepped away, forcing a smile onto her face.

Cain followed her, silently watching her, making her wonder just what it was that had made him like this.


	7. Episode VI Wilde

**Episode VI**

**Wilde  
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When he entered the big house, still half-asleep and rubbing fatigue from his eyes, Del noticed that the large structure was completely empty. He wandered into the living room, and then into the kitchen. There were dirty dishes in the sink, and the faint scent of bacon still wafted about, but there was no one to be seen.

He grabbed a cup of the leftover coffee, quickly heating it in the microwave before heading out onto the porch.

The golden Mercedes was gone, and along with it Shaw, apparently. Analise's small, magenta Subaru was also nowhere to be seen, and the silver Lamborghini was missing, as well. His old, burnt orange Ford was on the far left, and the only other vehicle was Dinah's motorcycle. The Janus Halcyon glinted in the rising sun, blue flickering in the seemingly-black paint.

He headed toward her house, not knowing what else to do.

He gently pushed the front door open, sticking his head inside to look around. It didn't take but a minute to see the woman asleep, curled up in a massive recliner, a black cat curled up on the back of it. He turned to close the door, and when he turned back around, both the woman and the cat cracked open their left eye to look at him.

He stilled, eyes widening ever so slightly; that was...creepy? Unsettling? _Interesting_? He snapped his hanging jaw shut, settling on all three of those, and the cat hopped off the chair. When the cat was a safe distance away, Dinah rolled her feet over her head, the chair going with the movement. His heart stopped for a moment, but it was pointless to be worried. She landed perfectly on her feet, and the chair rocked a bit, but landed back on the floor as well.

She stretched, arms high above her head, before doubling over in a long, arched back stretch. His attention was pulled away when the cat wound its way around and between his legs, and he crouched, rubbing a big palm over its head with a small smile.

"That's Salem," She explained with a quiet, fond smile, walking over and ducking to gather up the cat. She placed her on the counter and began fishing around in the fridge, "I got her in Tibet, when I was sixteen. Been my shadow ever since."

He nodded silently, watching her pour the feline a saucer of milk, before sticking the jug back in the fridge and pouring herself a glass of water of her own. He was rather surprised when she opened a cabinet and pulled out a pill bottle, taking a couple of the small capsules. She turned just slightly, her face a mask to him, but he fumbled to catch the bottle when she tossed it at him.

She took a drink as he read the bottle, eyebrows darting up toward his unruly hair, "Antidepressant?"

"Some of us need a little help," Dinah said, holding her hand out for the bottle. Del passed it back over, and was faced with her full attention when she leaned against the counter, "What brings you here, Freckles?"

He gave her a dry look at the nickname, but remained silent; he'd learned _quickly_ that there would be no changing her mind. He sat down on a John Deere bar stool, replying lamely, "Everyone else was gone."

She nodded, tapping her nails against the counter. She looked over his shoulder, out the window, and he fidgeted on the stool.

When she'd marched into the Silver Guardians' Headquarters, in leather with a motorcycle helmet, he had his first impression - rebellious, unruly, and aloof. Someone he wasn't sure he wanted to be spending too much time around, not after his teenage years...

He'd spent a long time running with people like that. Dangerous, careless, vicious people. People that killed for money, and even worse, killed for fun. All it would take was one misstep to fall off the wagon, and he just couldn't do that.

The Silver Guardians had turned everything around, become his life, and he'd got some irreplaceable friends. They hadn't judged him, hadn't mistrusted him, and had only helped him grow and leave that past behind.

He was resolute that a pretty face wouldn't change that.

But then, when he'd packed up and left everything he loved behind, the woman he saw was something else, nothing like the confident, almost arrogant, one that had been sent to fetch him. This one was almost _innocent_, flinging different colored paints about in a humorous, abstract method of painting the living room. She had even gone so far as to dip her short, dark hair in the can of yellow and throw her head about, splashing it over the walls and ceiling and even him.

Analise had fallen over laughing, as Cain stormed out, yellow stark against the purplish-black of his hair, and Dinah had nearly follow suit, hands braced on her knees. The laughter was infectious, and he found himself not only not mad, but completely unbothered and amused by the action.

But it had been busy, hectic even, and he hadn't had the chance to see that other persona again. She was quiet and aloof as he'd first assumed, and he was...well he was _thrown_. He could deal with one, or the other, but the bouncing back and forth was damn near giving him whiplash.

She straightened suddenly, and he jerked, drawn from his thoughts. She smiled, "Any plans today?"

"Not really...?" He drawled, and she smiled wider, "Good. Let's go out."

He blanched, then blushed, and was _eternally grateful _that she had already turned, vanishing deeper into the house. He could hear her tossing stuff around, and watched a black helmet roll down the hall.

His blush returned when her black, oversized T-shirt flew out into the hall, hitting the wall and sliding down, then her bra, and she called out, "Go change. We're gonna go for a ride."

He fled; he didn't need to be told twice.

~Ͻ Ϲ~

As they parked at the market, he recalled her challenge when they'd first met, how she would fly to reach Angel Grove from Silver Hills in a ridiculously small amount of time.

Yeah, well that was a _lie_.

She drove _far_ too sensibly to have flown back to Angel Grove like she had _claimed_ she would, and she almost seemed to be taking the turns with extra care.

She tossed a leg over the bike, standing, and he remained sitting, yanking his helmet off with frustration.

Surely he'd just _never_ understand her.

But she wasn't waiting on him, so he jogged after her.

It was still early, so only the early birds were out, meaning the crowds were manageable. They were just entering the doors—and he just felt _weird_ in civilian clothes, a pale orange Henley and ripped jeans, while his companion was in a leather coat and knee-high boots—when she literally _shoved_ past him.

He tottered on his feet, barely keeping his balance, and backtracked to see why the hell she had bolted.

He was _shocked_ to see her lifting bags from an elderly lady's cart into the trunk of her Buick. The little woman smiled, and Dinah grinned at her, ducking her head with a faint blush as the woman praised her. She ducked away a moment later, and the lady drove off.

Dinah jogged after him, tossing a quick sorry over her shoulder as she passed him.

He stared after her.

_What the fuck_?

~Ͻ Ϲ~

She had drug him around town, here and there, pointing out some of the most random places, and made sure he had at least a passing knowledge of the town and the more important locations, like the grocery store, hospital, bank, post office, and other such buildings.

The sun was just beginning to sink over the horizon when she pulled the bike over in a small gravel lot with a large wooden sign that read _Angel Grove Park_.

She dismounted smoothly, but he remained seated, tugging the helmet off, "Why are we here?"

"Nowhere better to be?" She shrugged, settling her helmet on the handlebars. When he looked at her with drawn brows, she quirked one of her own, "Got somewhere to be? Hot date I don't know about?"

He shook his head, making a small noise, "No...I left her back in Silver Hills."

She looked moderately surprised, and sounded completely sincere, "Sorry. I didn't know."

"Don't worry about it," he replied, surprising himself with his next statement as he kicked a leg over the bike, "doesn't matter. It wouldn't have worked out anyway."

She nodded, then smiled kindly, "Look, this place is beautiful. It'll take your mind off it."

He nodded, following her through the gate and into the park proper.

It was huge, lush and green with trees, thick grass, and a massive lake at the center of it. He could see the faint silhouettes of a couple playgrounds, and there were several benches scattered about, with a wide path of pebbles connecting it all.

She smiled at his bewildered expression, and quietly asked, "So, you wanna wander, or go to my favorite spot?"

He looked at her, smiling slightly, "Lead the way, boss lady."

She laughed quickly, bowing playfully before heading to the left. He followed, falling into step beside her, and noticed how the park was completely empty. Her chosen path lead further from the main part of the park and deeper into a copse of trees.

Suddenly, she veered off the path, vanishing into the brush at the side, and he scrambled to follow. He blindly headed straight through the bushes, thinking he saw a wavering branch as an indicator of her direction. Finally, he emerged on the other side.

The quiet hush of a small waterfall filled the tiny clearing, and he spotted her yanking her boots off. She grinned over her shoulder, "It feeds the lake itself. There are several of them scattered around, but they're off-limits to avoid pollution of the lake."

"Off-limits?" He asked dryly, and she shrugged, tossing her shoes to the side with a coy grin, "_Typically_. I have a friend or two in the Wildlife Preservation chapter around here. Trust me, the last thing I would ever want to do is pollute this lake. I _love_ it."

Here was another facet, and it was possibly the most interesting of all. Such sincerity, such..._passion_. He watched her stick her feet in the water, sighing dreamily before falling back to look up at the sky. He followed her line of sight, amazement filling him at the sight of a full, silver moon rising above the top of the trees.

He headed over to a rickety bench that shook when he put his considerable weight down on it, one leg sinking into the ground. She joined him a minute later, pants rolled up to her knees, and the silence only lasted for a few short moments before she randomly said, "So...let's hear what you think about me."

He blanched, thankful it was too dark to be seen, and stuttered, "W-what do you mean?"

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, smirking knowingly, "You met me in Silver Hills. You got your first impression. You've had a day to get a few more. I wanna hear them."

He floundered awkwardly, stumbling over his words, "I don't—it doesn't—I don't think I—"

"_Let me guess_," She interrupted, falsely innocent and thoughtful, "aloof, reckless bitch. Delinquent that breaks speed limits for no other reason than she can. Playgirl. Heart-breaker. Man-eater. Unable to be trusted. Did I get it? Or most of it, anyway?"

He winced, mouth moving but no sound coming out. He finally gave a small nod, and she laughed quietly, "It's okay. You're not the first, you won't be the last. _But_ I will have you _know_, I only sped long enough to get out of Myers' district, I haven't been on a date since I was eighteen, and I promise to you, I will take any secrets you trust me with to the grave."

He yanked his head around watching her, and she rested her chin in her hand, wiggling with curious excitement, "So...what do you think of me _now_?"

Watching her shift from badass to a curious child, he shook his head in disbelief; laughing with bewilderment and near hysteria, he nervously shoved a hand through his hair, "Honestly, I don't know _what _the hell to think of you."

She laughed, bright and loud in the darkness, clapping her hands, "I love it."

He didn't really want to, but felt honor-bound, so he inquired with a small voice, "What about me? What do you think of me?"

She turned on the bench, drawing one leg up as she rested the other along the back, and her toes were cold on his leg, even through his jeans. Her smile was small, but honest, and he held back a grimace as she leaned on the arm of the bench, "Honestly, I think you're a little stiff."

His shoulders slumped, but she placed a friendly hand on his shoulder, "I get it. I do. I don't know _what happened_ to you, when you were young, but I know damage when I see it. I've been there. I don't _need_ to know what happened, and I get that you had to be rigid in the Silver Guardians, but a schedule is _no way_ to live your life."

He looked up at her curiously, and she smiled, her teeth white in the night, "I mean, just _little_ things. Don't shave every morning. Don't wake up at five or six AM sharp every morning. Don't count calories—which I _know_ you do. Have an extra cup of coffee. Laze about for a day. You're not in the Silver Guardians right now...just _live_ a little."

"I used to," He said quietly, leaning back with a heavy sigh. "I used to have fun, but then...I just..."

"I don't think you know _how_ anymore," Dinah commented, and Del shot her a mildly nasty look, "_Yes_, I do."

"Oh, _really_?" She inquired, and dread sank in his stomach like a stone. She stood, hands on her hips, "You know how to have fun, do you? Well, I want _proof_. Let's _skinny dip_."

His eyes grew the size of saucers, and he hissed, "Are you _crazy_? This is a _public park_!"

"And it's nearly midnight," She rolled her eyes, dragging the hem of her shirt over her head. He looked away, shaking his head, "This is an _off-limits area_, you said it yourself! What makes you think this won't be the _first place they check_?"

"Because out of the four that cover this area, one is on maternity leave, the other is on vacation, the Police Chief works night shift, and though the sheriff works nights, he's got a _lot_ of paperwork to catch up on," She said instantly. "They won't be coming here tonight. But if you're _scared..."_

He bristled, growling, "I'm not _scared_."

"Then _prove it_," she challenged, wiggling out of her jeans. He felt a burst of courage, and jumped up before it left him, yanking his shirt over his head. He was working on his belt when she let out a low whistle, "Damn boy. You hide some _nice_ eye-candy under those baggy clothes."

He turned bright red as the belt slipped from his pants, and then he was hit in the face with a black bra. He pulled it off him, turning even brighter red, and she laughed, "I can throw the underwear at you too, if you think you can go any redder."

"You're a horrible person," he grumbled, feeling a thrill despite himself. She laughed, "That _is_ popular consensus."

She disappeared into the water, and he stripped the rest of the way down, slipping in much more quietly than she had. She popped up from under the water, a good five feet away, bangs wet and down in her eyes as she grinned, "Not so bad, was it?"

"You are _fucking crazy_," he laughed, and she shrugged, "I try."

He rested against the side of the small pond, while she swam around, and just blurted, "What do I think of you _now_? I think you're a fucking _wild card._"

Her laughter echoed off the trees, loud enough to scare a flock of birds from their sleep.


End file.
